Chapter 82 : My period is here

Although most villagers went to the movies, Su Mo didn’t dare linger in the cowshed too long. After updating her parents about the situation at Uncle Su’s place, she quickly left.

Back at the Lujia Village Brigade, Su Mo skipped the movie and went straight to bed.

In the middle of the night, Su Mo woke abruptly, feeling a familiar warmth. Realizing her period had started, she quickly turned on the light, retrieved a sanitary napkin from her space, and took care of it.

The original owner of her body had suffered from irregular menstruation, with periods occurring only a few times a year. However, thanks to Su Mo’s month-long use of her supernatural powers to nourish her body, her cycle seemed to be normalizing.

Yet, as her body returned to health, new concerns arose. Sanitary napkins, a luxury in this era, were sold only in Friendship Stores and were unavailable in small towns like Qingxi County. Her stock was limited, no matter how sparingly she used them.

Su Mo pondered her options: should she stockpile cotton and sew reusable sanitary pads? Or perhaps purchase a menstrual belt and tissues? Both seemed feasible plans.

After cleaning up, Su Mo went back to sleep, feeling unusually drowsy. It wasn’t until the next morning, when someone called her, that she awoke.

Startled to see it was already 8 a.m., she quickly dressed and opened the door to find Ma Xiaojuan and Chen Lan standing outside.

“Su Mo, are you alright?” Ma Xiaojuan asked, concerned since Su Mo hadn’t returned to the movie the previous night.

“I’m fine, just got my period and felt a bit uncomfortable,” Su Mo replied, using the excuse.

“Oh, then make sure to stay warm and rest. Do you have any brown sugar? Drink some brown sugar water,” Ma Xiaojuan advised sympathetically, familiar with period discomfort.

“Yes, I’ll make some later,” Su Mo nodded and offered, “Want to come in and sit for a while?”

“No, we have to collect firewood for winter heating. I just came to check on you,” Ma Xiaojuan said.

“I’m fine. Thanks, Xiaojuan,” Su Mo said gratefully.

“No need for thanks between friends! Take care and rest,” Ma Xiaojuan said before leaving with Chen Lan.

With her period ongoing, Su Mo decided to stay home and cook. After tidying up, she began preparing bone soup. She washed and chopped large bones she’d bought earlier, placed them in a casserole with red dates, and simmered them over a small stove.

She soaked a handful of kelp and, once the soup turned milky white, cut the kelp and added it. Next, she dug up a fourth-grade wild ginseng, trimmed off a few small roots, washed them, and added them to the soup. Su Mo planned to alternate harvesting between the two wild ginseng plants to prevent overuse.

While the soup simmered, Su Mo took fifty kilograms of meat purchased the previous day and cut it into long strips, yielding about forty pieces. She chopped some of it into stuffing, then retrieved fresh sweet corn from her space, breaking it into kernels to make corn-and-pork dumplings.

She mixed dough, rolled dumpling wrappers, filled them, and boiled them, working diligently all morning to produce two large pots of dumplings. She stored them in her space for future meals.

With the bone soup ready, Su Mo filled a small clay pot with some, intending to deliver it to her parents and Grandpa Zhang during her next visit to the cowshed. She poured the rest into a large basin, placed it in a bamboo basket, and prepared to deliver it to the Lu family.

Li Yue’e had just returned from gathering firewood in the mountains and hadn’t had time to start cooking. When she saw Su Mo arriving with food again, she couldn’t help but exclaim:

“Xiaomo, why are you bringing food again? I feel like I don’t even need to cook anymore, I can just eat at your house.”

Su Mo was momentarily taken aback. It was the first time Li Yue’e had called her by name. Then she smiled to herself, had she finally won her mother-in-law’s approval and earned a place in her heart?

“It’s no big deal. I bought some bones the day before yesterday and made kelp soup. Now that it’s getting colder, drinking it will help warm the body and soothe the throat,” Su Mo replied with a smile.

It seemed her efforts as a daughter-in-law were paying off.

“Why don’t you help Grandpa get up and have some while it’s still hot?” Su Mo suggested, glancing at the clock. It was nearly one o’clock, and the old man must be hungry.

“Alright,” Li Yue’e agreed. She washed her hands, filled a large bowl, and carried it to Lu Boming’s room.

Having walked a long way to gather firewood, she had returned home later than usual. Su Mo followed to assist.

When Su Mo saw the elderly man resting, she was secretly alarmed. His vitality seemed incredibly weak, and there was even a faint sense of death about him.

“Mom, hasn’t Grandpa been eating pears these past few days?” Su Mo asked, concerned.

Could it be that the faint vitality from the pears was no longer enough because his energy had dwindled so much?

“He has,” Li Yue’e sighed. “But now that it’s cold, he can’t eat much.”

The truth was, the old man had barely eaten anything. Stubborn as he was, he hadn’t even stepped out of his room since yesterday.

Li Yue’e gently woke him, helped him sit up, and propped him against the kangqin. Su Mo brought over the small kang table and set the bowl of soup before him.

“Grandpa, I made some kelp and bone soup for you. It’s nourishing and good for your body,” she said warmly.

“Alright, thank you for your effort, Xiaomo,” he replied softly, taking a moment to gather his strength before picking up the spoon.

As he took the first sip, he found the taste surprisingly agreeable. He drank more, and the warmth gradually spread through his chilled body. Before long, he had finished the entire bowl.

Seeing this, Li Yue’e was nearly moved to tears.

“Good! As long as he can eat, that’s what matters.”

Without hesitation, she took the bowl. “Dad, I’ll get you another serving, there’s still plenty left.” She hurried back to the kitchen to ladle more soup.

Xiaomo truly was the best filial, thoughtful, and an excellent cook. Even the old man could eat her food.

By the time he finished his second bowl, Lu Boming looked weary again. Su Mo and Li Yue’e helped him lie down to rest.

On the way home, Su Mo felt heavy-hearted. She hadn’t anticipated the old man’s condition to decline so quickly. She resolved to give him the wild ginseng as soon as possible, any further delay might mean he wouldn’t survive much longer.

Later, when Lu Qing’an returned from the mountains after gathering firewood, he first checked on his father. Finding him asleep, he went to the kitchen to ask Li Yue’e about his condition.

“How’s Dad? Did he eat anything?” he asked.

“He drank two bowls of kelp and bone soup that Xiaomo brought over,” Li Yue’e replied. “Dad really liked it. Let’s each try a bowl, and we’ll save the rest for him to have tonight.”

“Alright,” Lu Qing’an nodded, then added after a moment’s thought, “The Third daughter-in-law’s

 cooking is excellent. Why don’t we have her cook for Dad from now on? It might help him eat more.”

Li Yue’e considered this and agreed. She was used to preparing simple, rough dishes, and it was true that Xiaomo’s food tasted much better.

“Good idea. I’ll talk to her after dinner. She’s a kind and filial child, I’m sure she’ll agree.”